Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-FL), the Chairman of the House Transportation Committee, released the following statement today on the Senate’s need to approve a House-passed extension of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs:

“After waiting weeks and doing nothing but complaining about the process and blaming everyone but themselves, Senate Democrat leaders failed again today on a last ditch effort to approve an extension of FAA programs. Apparently, protecting outrageous airline ticket subsidies is more important than putting 4,000 furloughed FAA employees and thousands of airport construction workers across the country back to work.

“The House sent the 21st extension to the Senate almost two weeks ago. The Senate could have avoided this entire situation by simply taking up the House-passed bill. This bill includes language taken directly from the Senate’s long-term FAA bill, approved in February, to cut subsidies to airports within 90 miles of a large or medium-hub airport, including airports in West Virginia, Montana, and Nevada.

“The House bill also includes language to eliminate exorbitant subsidies of more than $1,000 per ticket at three airports, including Ely, Nevada, where each ticket is underwritten $3,720 by the federal government. The House bill cuts $16.5 million from a program that has increased over 300% to $200 million each year. To be clear, the House extension does not include any National Mediation Board labor provisions, which is another contentious issue between the House and Senate.

“Hardworking Americans are suffering because some powerful leaders in the Senate want to protect their own pork programs. We are all fed up with the sham that is going on in the Senate. The Senate made a clear choice – political pork over American workers.”

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